


A Change is as Good as a Rest

by zovinar



Category: Persona 5
Genre: (sorta) - Freeform, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ensemble Cast, Friendship, Gen, Meet the Family, No-Angst Zone, Post-Canon, Recovery, Slice of Life, Support, background haze of overwhelming aromatic vibes, mostly comfort, self-care, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 02:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21468640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zovinar/pseuds/zovinar
Summary: The threat is over, the Metaverse is gone, and the Phantom Thieves are finally free after classes end. So Akechi stops. Just stops. He plants himself face down in Akira’s pillows and refuses to leave.But Akira has to leave too, so he takes Akechi back home.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Morgana, Minor Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Morgana & Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 7
Kudos: 95





	A Change is as Good as a Rest

Akechi graduates in the Spring because of course he does. He’s Akechi Goro, what else was anyone expecting? He kept going through this hellish last year and his past few miserable ones before with a level of commitment and drive that was as admirable as it was for idiotic reasons, kept at it after all the shit that went down with the attempted heroic sacrifice and the nearly dying thing and the dodging Shido’s lackeys—seriously, what else? Akechi’s the type to spit in god’s face (literally, as in that was a thing that actually happened) so really, what else was there even to expect?

So Akechi graduates from his High School in the Spring, top of his class, full honors, dozens of scholarship opportunities, and then without further ado goes back to Leblanc.

He comes back to Leblanc, steals Akira’s bed, and sleeps for three days.

He wakes up on day four and immediately demands coffee because of course, it’s Akechi. But when Akira gets back with his usual, Akechi is asleep again: face down in Akira’s pillow in a way that’s unsettling similar to how Crow always seemed to end up when he got knocked out in the Metaverse. Akira sorta hovers and Morgana frets, but Sojiro just takes up a couple of water bottles and bendy straws to leave by the bed, mouth turned down and eyes tight.

Day five has Futaba pressing a box of meal replacement shakes into his hands, looking worried. It’s more needed than Akira’d like to admit. The times he manages to catch Akechi up are rare and their duration slim and Akechi barely seems to have to energy to even drink them. Futaba also offers to put some bugs up so she can keep tabs on Akechi herself, but Akechi seems to wake up from his stupor enough to vehemently (as he can manage right now anyway) refuse. Akira compromises with her on a device that Akechi can use to ping her system if he feels the need.

Six sees a grim-faced Ann passing Akira a packet of shower-replacement wipes and a can of dry shampoo. He helps Akechi with his hair but leaves so Akechi can wipe himself down in private. He still looks exhausted and listless when Akira comes back but much less uncomfortable, dressed now in some of Ryuji’s older, baggy sweats. He’s actually meeting Akira’s eyes as he rolls Akechi out of bed and helps him to the couch so Akira can change the sheets. Makes sense, Crow never cared about being covered with blood and grime from fighting Shadows and the like but Akechi always made a face at the idea of being dirty. It’s not like he had any investment in his real world ‘perfect prince’ look, but being able to control his appearance and the image he presented was important to Akechi. Ann was always good at those little details, especially for Akechi.

One week after Akechi graduates, Makoto brings him a card from Sae. It obviously rankles when she congratulates him on getting a better placement score than her from the way she has to work herself up to it, but the tired yet pleased smile Akechi presses into Akira’s pillow is a load off of both their shoulders. Back down in the café, Makoto tells him that Akechi can stay at her place if he needs to. Sae has been working mostly out of her home office recently, so she can keep an eye on Akechi for a bit while Makoto and Haru road trip out to check out some college campuses so Akira can get a breather and take care of some stuff.

Akira’s not dumb enough to even try to take a peek at whatever Sae wrote, but Akechi’s eyes seem a bit softer as he reads it. Akira puts the card up on his shelf right next to his bed so all Akechi has to do is turn his head a little to see it. For good measure, he also adds a couple of Phantom Thieves group photos, including one from the Metaverse that has Panther throwing a peace sign in a selfie with Oracle that features Crow in the background holding up a piss terrified Shadow with Noir and Joker. That one always seems to make him grin a bit.

Before she leaves, Haru stops by with an enormous, fluffy weighted blanket and a sleek tablet loaded up with basically every episode of Featherman ever. Her relationship with Akechi will always be a little off—and mostly based on shared levels of bloodthirsty carnage in battle, but she still makes sure to impress upon Akira to call her for any extra expenses Akechi might need. He’s not sure if this is to help out him or Akechi specifically, but right now Akira isn’t gutsy enough to just spend Akechi’s money without asking, especially if Akechi isn’t there to tell him which cards and accounts are safe to use.

Yusuke is last (Kosei lets out after Sujin) but he brings Akechi some of his more philosophical art history books. ‘Futurism and its Fall to the Surrealists’ and other things like that. Akira doesn’t catch him actually reading that much but he’ll come back sometimes to Akechi asleep with a book open next to him, page barely kept by a corner wedged under his pillow. Yusuke stops by a few times to speak at length about his thoughts on art theory and its intersection with societal moments while Akechi grunts agreements or dissents and occasionally an actual, fully voiced opinion. As far as Akira knows, Akechi doesn’t have any particular interest in the arts, but he does seem a bit more alert when Yusuke goes on a diatribe about the connections between Modernism and Science Fiction.

Some days are better and Akechi can actually get down some solid food, and some days are worse, where he refuses to come out from under the covers and Akira has to call over Ryuji to help him drag Akechi down the stairs to make him use the bathroom.

And through it all, Morgana keeps watch and Akira waits.

**Author's Note:**

> prologue atm, plot manly structured around Akechi's depression and recovery—nothing too dramatic or heavy—and will be mostly informed by my experiences after my own breakdown. it'll probably be easier to write bc of that, but I'm also ludicrously busy and still depressed (less so but still) so my spare free time and attention will most likely get sunk into my other stuff
> 
> lmk any thoughts/ideas? I usually don't go exactly with what ppl say but they're rlly good for inspiration.


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